Silicone Fluids are branched polymers which have Silicone and oxygen atoms alternating in a chain, with a methyl group or a phenyl group attached with the Si and O atoms. Because of their high thermal stability, of temperatures in excess of 100*F the Silicone fluids are increasingly used as Lubricants in various industries. These Lubricants come in various forms, thermic fluids which are resistant to thermal conduction and hydraulic fluids which provide good viscosity resistance. As the Lubricants have high thermal stability they act as excellent electrical insulators and unlike carbon based insulators do possess anti flammable qualities which increase their application in various high energy applications.

Due to low methyl to methyl inter-molecular interaction and high backbone flexibility silicone materials possess a low glass transition temperature and remain liquid at room temperature even at high molecular weight. High boiling points their viscosity is less affected by temperature changes than organics. Due to their chemical properties silicone fluids have various positive outputs such as less effect by aggressive environments compared to Organic Lubricants, oxidation resistances of silicones market them apt for long life applications, due to inertness towards other chemicals they can be easily applied in the Food and Beverage processing industry.

With the high application in various industries Silicone fluids are available in different forms based on the intensity of application, those types being Silicone compounds, Silicone greases, Silicone pastes, Silicone anti friction coatings and Silicone dispersions.

With high temperature stability and good heat transfer characteristics, they are apt for applications in laboratories for heating baths placed on top of hot plate stirrers as well as cooling applications. Silicone based fluids are also used in the form of anti-foaming agents due to their low surface tension in Industrial applications such as distillations or fermentation where excessive amounts of foam can be problematic.

Silicone fluids have also been applied in Medical applications in order to control vitreous fluid substitute to treat difficult cases of retinal detachment such as those complicated with proliferative retinopathy, large retinal tears and penetrating Ocular trauma.

Silicone Fluids heavily depends on the increase in the Industrial activity in the region and their application can be easily co-related to the increase or decrease in the Macro-economic fundamentals such as GDP. Major industries which are expected to witness high adoption of Silicone fluid applications are Automotive, transportation, plastics, Electricals and Textile Applications.

Silicone Fluids,Market: Segmentation

On the basis application the Shale Gas can be segmented into Textile, Construction, Electronics, Electrical, transportation, Plastics and Food Industry.

Depending on the growth of major Macro-economic fundamentals in various regions the applications of Silicone fluids are expected to witness an increase. Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North America are expected to witness an increase in application of Silicone fluids due to increase in Industrial activity which is expected to drive the industry in a bullish manner. Regions such as South America and Europe due to the fall Industrial activity due to high energy prices the application of Silicone Fluids are expected to witness a decrease.

Silicone Fluids: Key Players

Some of the major players in the Silicone Fluids Industry are Wacker Chemie, Dow Corning, Shin Etsu Chemical, Momentive Performance Chemicals and Bluestar Silicones.